The Stunning Growth Of Shanghai In One GIF

In the last
100 years or so, Shanghai, the megacity on the eastern coast of
China, has seen incredible economic, industrial, and population
growth. While it has long been a large and important seaport, it
wasn't until the 1990s that urbanization and expansion really
exploded in Shanghai, turning it into a modern mecca.

Since the 1980s, when China's markets were opened up to trade
with the West, the city has grown rapidly. In 2001, the
population was 13.3
million, more than 2.5 times what the population was in 1949.
Today, the population is
more than 24 million, making it the third largest city in the
world.

The original
image of Shanghai's financial district of Pudong, seen
above, was taken by a Reuters photographer in 1987. In
2013, another photographer, Carlos Barria, took a photograph from
the same vantage point. The difference that 26 years has made on
Shanghai is astonishing.